Teaching aid

ABSTRACT

A teaching aid usable as a chalk board and for displaying movable objects. The teaching aid includes a board having a sandwich construction comprising rigid center core, a lamination of magnetic material such as thin sheet steel or steel foil on at least one side of the center core and a covering of book cloth material on both flat faces of the board. Magnetized rubber or vinyl members are coated so that they will stick to the face of the board having the magnetic sheet therebeneath but so that they are easily slidable thereover.

O UnIted States Patent [151 3,654,711 Taylor [4 1 Apr. 11, 1972 541TEACHING AID FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [72] In nt r: Lowell ayl Bx 224, 842,480 7/1960 Great Britain ..35/7 A Kaysvllle, U h 84037968,487 9/1964 Great Britain ..40/l42 A 2 'l b. 16 197 [2 1 Fl ed Fe 0Primary ExaminerHarland S. Skogquist [2]] Appl- 11,695 An0rneyB.Deon'Criddle 52 us. Cl. ..35/66, 35/7 A [571 ABSTRACT A tea hing aidusable as a chalk board and for held of Search 7 66; 281/29; 273/130movable objects. The teaching aid includes a board having a 273/13] AD;40/142 A sandwich construction comprising rigid center core, a lamina- Rf Cl ed tion of magnetic material such as thin sheet steel or steel foil6] e t on at least one side of the center core and a covering of bookUNITED STATES PATENTS cloth material on both flat faces of the board.Magnetized rubber or vInyl members are coated so that they Wlll stick to2,665,913 5 Hla AD X the face of the board having the magnetic sheettherebeneath 3,093,919 6/1963 but so that they are easily slidablethereover. 3,432,944 3/1969 3,456,373 7/1969 2 Claims, 3 Drawing FiguresPATENTEUAPR 1 1 I972 FIGI INVENTORZ LOWELL M. TAYLOR ATTORNEY TEACHINGAID BRIEF DESCRIPTION There has long been a need for a low cost,lightweight teaching aid that can be used as a chalkboard or that willprovide a magnetic board on which magnetic members can be readily moved.

A football coach, for example, can use such a teaching aid to marksemi-permanent fixed figures or designs on the board while at the sametime using the magnetic members to show player movement. Alternatively,different shapes or colors of magnetized members can be used torepresent different teams.

Teachers also have a need for such a board. Frequently it is desired tohave a lightweight chalk board that can be moved from classroom toclassroom or even to outdoor teaching areas. Also it is often desirableto have a board on which animated characters can be moved from area toarea in simulation of actual movement.

Objects of the present invention are to provide a teaching aid usable asa lightweight chalk board or a magnetic board, and to provide magneticmembers that will be held on the board but that will readily slidethereover.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Principal features of the invention include aboard of sandwich construction, with a central core of stiff cardboardor other substantially rigid material, a layer of magnetic material suchas thin sheet steel or steel foil and a cover for each face of the boardmade of book cloth material.

Other features include rubberized magnetic members for use on a face ofthe board and Mylar coatings on at least one face of the magneticmembers to render them more easily slidable on the book cloth cover ofthe board.

Additional objects and features of the invention will become apparentfrom the following detailed description and claims, taken with theaccompanying drawing.

THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cut-out section of a boardforming part of the teaching aid of the invention;

FIG. 2, a perspective view of a magnetic member forming part of theteaching aid of the invention; and

FIG. 3, a perspective view of the teaching aid of the invention, showinga movable character attached to a magnetic member that is attracted toand held on a face of a board.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring now to the drawing:

In the illustrated preferred embodiment the teaching aid of theinvention includes a board, shown generally at 1 0, and a magnet member,shown generally at 11.

Board includes a central core 12 of stiff cardboard, or other suitablelightweight, rigid material. A thin layer of magnetic material 13, whichmay be gauge sheet steel or 1 mil steel foil, or a thin layer of someother magnetically attracted metal, is placed one side of the core, anda layer of book cloth material 14 covers each side of the core andmagnetic material combination. The book cloth cover, which may beproxylin impregnated, commercial standard CS57-40 book cloth, forexample, is rough enough to hold chalk particles and the board thereforemakes an excellent, easily erased chalk board. In addition, the magneticmaterial 13 provides excellent attraction for magnet members placedagainst the book cover material covering the foil.

The magnet member 1 l is flexible and is soft enough not to mar the bookcloth and is made of a piece of magnetized rubber 14, with a paintcoating 15 on the top and a coating 16 of adhesively applied,slick-surfaced Mylar on the bottom. Alternatively a magnetized Mylarmaterial having paint coating on the top and a slick-surface finish onthe bottom can be used. The slicksurface coating on the magnetizedmembers does not adversely affect their holding properties, but doesallow them to more easily slide over e book cover surface which, asnoted, must be rough enough to hold chalk particles.

The magnetized rubber is readily commercially available, but it willnot, by itself, slide as easily as may always be desired on the bookcloth cover. The use of a properly finished magnetized Mylar, which isalso readily commercially available, or the addition of a slick surfaceMylar coating to the magnetic members made of magnetized rubber insuresa smoother surface that will more easily slide across the book clothcover, but does not significantly affect the magnetic attraction betweenthe magnet member and the metal foil. The paint coating provides forready identification of individual magnet members. Naturally, anydesired number and size of magnetic members and any desired colorarrangement of the members can be used in conjunction with the board.

The Mylar or Mylar coated magnetized members are readily moved over theface of the board, as previously described, so a plurality of them canbe used to represent team player positions, for example.

As shown in FIG. 3, characters to be placed on the board, such as thatshown at 16, can be taped or otherwise affixed to a magnetic member 11and they will then be securely magnetically held in place, but willstill be movable over the face of the board with the magnetic member ifit is desired to provide character animation, even with respect tosemi-permanent fixed characters or designs placed on the board surfacewith chalk.

While a preferred embodiment of my invention has been herein described,modifications and changes are anticipated as coming within the scope ofthe following claims, which claims define my invention.

I claim:

1. A teaching aid comprising a board having a thin layer of steel foilsandwiched between layers of textured book cloth material providingcovers therefor, said covers being receptive to chalk markings thereonand to erasure of such chalk markings; and

at least one magnetized, flexible member that is magnetically attractedto the layer of steel foil, each said magnetized, flexible member havingat least one face thereof coated with a material that reduces thefrictional engagement between the book cloth material and the magnetizedflexible member whereby said flexible member can more easily slide onthe book cloth material while being magnetically held thereon.

2. A teaching aid as in claim 1, wherein the coating on the magnetizedflexible members is slick-surfaced Mylar.

1. A teaching aid comprising a board having a thin layer of steel foilsandwiched between layers of textured book cloth material providingcovers therefor, said covers being receptive to chalk markings thereonand to erasure of such chalk markings; and at least one magnetized,flexible member that is magnetically attracted to the layer of steelfoil, each said magnetized, flexible member having at least one facethereof coated with a material that reduces the frictional engagementbetween the book cloth material and the magnetized flexible memberwhereby said flexible member can more easily slide on the book clothmaterial while being magnetically held thereon.
 2. A teaching aid as inclaim 1, wherein the coating on the magnetized flexible members isslick-surfaced Mylar.